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Finally out after a few delays, which were rumored to be compatibility issues with Windows 7, the Left 4 Dead 2 Demo hit steam close to midnight on Wednesday, available to all who pre-ordered the PC title (the same as for the people who pre-ordered it for the Xbox 360 – with the only difference being that Xbox owners got to partake in the zombie madness on time.)

I had my initial reservations about this game – having played the original title extensively, I was expecting a more-of-the-same sort of deal, but I was pleasantly surprised. From the get-go the graphics show heavy improvement over the rather basic designs of the original, and the maps have a more natural and realistic flow to them, as well as properly portraying a believable town. The new weapons are meaty and well-balanced, with what feels to be a slightly bigger clip to reduce the reloading needed during a level. With the addition of melee weapons such as a machete, frying pan, chainsaw, and baseball bat, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a wider range of fallback weapons to spice things up.

The same attention has been given to the pickups: for example, you can now choose between a syringe pack or pills,  healthpack or electro pads for reviving a dead player, and Bile bombs as well as the stock pipe bomb and molotov.

The swap of the original four characters for the new ones may leave a sour taste for some – for me, at least, the character personalities don’t seem as pronounced as they used to be. This may be due to the fact that it’s only a demo though, so I’ll reserve judgment until the final retail version is released.

All in all it seems like a logical, progressive step from Left 4 Dead and I’ve no real negatives to say about it! Looking forward to the fragfest come November!

Platform: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, PSP, iPhone
Developer: Slightly Mad Studios
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release date: US - 15th Sept 2008, EU – 17th Sept 2008, UK – 18th Sept, 2008.

Introduction

As one of the oldest racing franchises, the Need For Speed series has gone through many changes in its lifetime, from humble beginnings on the 3DO in 1994 to gritty, rap inspired installments with Need For Speed: Underground in 2003.

This latest game, however, breaks away from the trend of the older games in the series and further builds upon the foundations set by Need For Speed: ProStreet, which was released in 2007. This previous installment moved the illegal city racing and cop-avoiding antics of the series out onto legitimately run tracks and competitions, but it wasn’t well accepted due to its poor physics engine, uninvolved single player mode, and unresponsive controls – a shame, because a real return to racing was something the Need For Speed series desperately needed. Subsequent to the poor reception of ProStreet, the next Need For Speed game released was Need For Speed: Undercover, which returned to the premise of the former four titles and set the player as an undercover cop, which to me is pretty much the same as going back to Need For Speed: Most Wanted, since it more or less means you’ll be racing with bad guys and running from cops anyway.